Chapter 20: Chapter 19 : Taste of me

“Well… I don’t think humans are as scary as you make them out to be…” I fidgeted with the cloth in my hand—the one I’d been using to scrub the floor. It was starting to fray from how often I’d twisted it.

“Really?! Well, you should’ve said that sooner!” the golden-haired girl exclaimed, nearly throwing the bucket into the next realm with the force of her voice.

The fox girl beside her just sighed in the most tired, world-weary way I’d ever heard, like this was routine for her. Was this what she dealt with every day?

“Please stop shouting,” the fox girl said calmly.

“Eh? This is my normal voice, though! I’m offended!” the blonde gasped dramatically, placing a hand over her chest like someone had just accused her of murder.

She absolutely knew her voice was loud.

“…Sometimes I wish your voice was as short as your height,” the fox girl muttered, unbothered.

I swear I saw steam rise from the blonde’s braid.

“Did you say something?” she asked with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Nothing in particular.”

“Just because you’ve got extra fat doesn’t mean you’re better,” she snapped, glaring at the curves on the fox girl’s chest and hips like they’d personally insulted her bloodline.

I flinched, expecting a counterattack.

But nothing came.

The fox girl didn’t flinch. She didn’t even smirk. She just blinked.

As if being emotionally untouchable was part of her job description.

I didn’t know this place well, so you wouldn’t blame me for thinking that the blonde might suddenly whip out a dagger and try to chop those “fats” off, right?

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Sensing my distress, the fox girl decided to put an end to their feud and offered a proper introduction.

“Excuse my friend here. My name is Zera.”

“Name’s Veneta! Sorry about that—I was a little… uh, excited,” she said, grinning as she held out a hand.

I shook it.

Then she tilted her head, eyes squinting in curiosity. “By the way, what’s your race? I don’t think I’ve seen anyone like you.”

For a moment, I considered lying through my teeth.

Bad idea. One: I barely knew the races in this realm. Two: if I got caught, I didn’t know what they'd do to me. So I gulped hard—saliva turning to syrup.

“Actually… my mother’s a succubus and my father is… w-well, human.” I stared at the floor, afraid to see their reactions. The silence stretched long. Too long.

It’s fine, I told myself. It doesn’t matter what they think. I forced myself to look up.

Veneta’s face looked… blank. Not neutral. Not shocked. Just confused, like someone had handed her an unsolvable riddle made out of soup.

Zera? Barely a twitch. “Makes sense,” she said.

“Oh! I get it!... I think.” Veneta perked up like someone who definitely did not get it.

“Wh-what do you get?” I asked, dreading the answer.

“You’re adopted!” she clapped like she'd just solved a crime.

It’s okay to cry, right?

Even though I’d braced for emotional damage, I wasn’t prepared for this much “EmoTIoNaL DAmAGe.”

Zera's poker face broke. She was clearly in shock.

Me? I had gone fully expressionless. But the tears were knocking. Loudly.

Then I heard a sound like a meteor slamming into the floor.

PLAH!

I froze. Even the tears froze.

Veneta slumped forward with a pained grunt, and behind her stood Zera with her hand still mid-swing.

She’d smacked her. Hard.

“OUCH! What was that for?!” the short menace whined.

“Are you stupid?”

“What kind of question is that?! Of course not!”

Zera pointed at me. “Look at what you’ve done. Then answer again.”

“Eh?” Veneta blinked, finally noticing my face.

“This is why you’re friendless,” Zera said coldly.

The words hit hard. Veneta’s lip quivered as she turned to me with wide, watery eyes.

I wasn’t ready to forgive her. Not when her words echoed some jerk from the village years ago.

But then she lunged.

“I’M SO SORRY!” she wailed, hugging me like a puppy clinging to a toy.

She was shorter than me, so the way her arms wrapped around me—desperately, earnestly—it felt like being mugged by a needy golden retriever.

“…It’s okay. I’m sure you didn’t mean it,” I mumbled, because at that point, what else could I say?

I mean, how could I stay mad at such a ridiculously cute existence?

My hatred evaporated.

“Really? Does that mean we can be friends?!” Her eyes sparkled—literally. How is that even a thing?

“Sure?” I offered hesitantly.

And that’s when I felt it.

Fangs.

Sinking into my neck.

My blood—MY BLOOD—gushing into the mouth of my supposedly new “friend.”